Got some work in...

Fired up the forge today just to say I did.  I really didn't have anything specific in mind, just wanted to swing the hammer.  I played around with making some candle cups.  If you ever need to make those, make absolutely certain that you don't work below an orange heat.  The metal is so easy to crack that its easy to mess up a piece.  They aren't difficult as long as you have patience.

Also, just to work on some endurance, I put in a few heats on making my bick.  A bick is used for those smaller pieces that are just too small for the anvil.  (BTW: bick is short for bickern or bicorn meaning bi-horns. Many bicks will be T-shaped with two horns.)  An example of their use is either the tines of fork or the shaft of an arrow head.  Think of it as a miny anvil.  This is an example of one on sale at www.blacksmithdepot.com.



I plan on making mine with a a skinnier taper.  I can do that because of the quality of steel I am using.  I am forming the bick out of a solid trailer hitch.  I did get the hardie shank formed and started the taper.  The heat finally drove me inside.